Now for something a little different. A compliment to Sirius

[styckx]

Despite the channel changes that have rattled some feathers, I got to say I'm highly impressed with the speed at which Sirius is implementing change. XM sank, and Sirius had no choice but to make changes quick to ease the bleeding and I think they did an insane job.

July 25 the FCC approved the merger

4 short months later all this happened. From a business stand point this was quite the accomplishment and a complete lynching but one that was 100% needed to keep Sirius from completely sinking.

• A ton of people have been fired consolidating the staffing down to a single business model.
  
• Best Of service implemented and actually a successful service
  
• "Redundant" channels merged and implemented near flawlessly.

 

[snakester]

I give credit where credit is due, and they do deserve major credit for how quick they pulled this off. I wish they had done a bit more testing first though, there's way too many channels on the XM side that are showing Sirius XM Radio in both their PAD data fields.

 

[HecticArt]

for a company their size they did move very quickly.

I just wish hey would have asked me first. . . . .

 

[hexagram]

I sympathise with all of the people out there that lost their favorite channels. Like I've said before, I know what it's like to be screwed around with by pulling The Bridge and replacing it with some single-artist bullshit channel.

Speaking for myself only... I love the new channel line-up. In fact, I've added a bunch of new channels to my presets as a result and I only lost one channel in the process. That channel would be "The Vault" but "Deep Tracks" is the perfect replacement, so I'm 110% satisfied (especially knowing that my beloved Bridge will return to me in January). :yesshake:

 

[TX WJ]

I think that it was a smart move overall.

I don't understand why they didn't make the channel numbers the same, they could have easily left numbers for exclusive channels.

 

[hexagram]

I don't understand why they didn't make the channel numbers the same, they could have easily left numbers for exclusive channels.

I agree. That doesn't make much sense to me either.

Maybe on their call sign, they will eventually just use the channel name without mentioning a channel number. (Example: This is Classic Vinyl on Sirius XM).

... or maybe the "second wave" that I keep hearing about will cover the rest of the update process (channel numbers and such).

 

[Peter Atkinson]

Ignore my screen name. I signed up when I was tired & now I'm stuck with it.

I, too think Sirius XM turned it over very quickly after the merger was finalized. I also lost a few channels I liked on both subscriptions, but I really enjoy the new lineup. That's a good first wave, let's see what the rumored second wave brings.

 

[xpenguin9]

I sympathise with all of the people out there that lost their favorite channels. Like I've said before, I know what it's like to be screwed around with by pulling The Bridge and replacing it with some single-artist bullshit channel.

Speaking for myself only... I love the new channel line-up. In fact, I've added a bunch of new channels to my presets as a result and I only lost one channel in the process. That channel would be "The Vault" but "Deep Tracks" is the perfect replacement, so I'm 110% satisfied (especially knowing that my beloved Bridge will return to me in January). :yesshake:

Ditto. I only lost one channel (boombox) and i hardly ever listened to that anyways... and I gained BPM which is much better than the Beat anyways. nothing else changed for me at all... i am very pleased.

 

[Grüpsaar]

You could say I lost one channel, Boombox, and maybe Backspin, but I never listened to them for more then an hour a week or less.

The new lineup is awesome so far, and they did it pretty well, considering the little amount of time that has passed, I agree.

 

[DAB]

Well as you all know I don't have much faith in Sirius, but I have to give them kudos for pulling this merger off and doing a fairly decent job on the channel merges. I think there are some things here and there we would have all done a bit differently. Unfortunately in changes such as this you simply can't satisify everyone or in the case of XMFan anyone. (sorry I had to get that in there) LOL

I don't know I sort of have a renewed feeling for Sat Radio since these changes have happened. Lets just hope that feeling moves into the market place and we start getting a lot of new subs, Sirius starts making a profit and we will no longer have to worry will this service continue or not.

 

[me_rubin]

Ignore my screen name. I signed up when I was tired & now I'm stuck with it.

If you send a note to the mods I think they can fix your screen name to what you want. I've seen a few names change since the site came live...

 

[DAB]

If you send a note to the mods I think they can fix your screen name to what you want. I've seen a few names change since the site came live...

Actually send it to MM he can do it for you. We lowly mods don't have the admin cp to do such things.

 

[Dark Star]

I don't know I sort of have a renewed feeling for Sat Radio since these changes have happened.

I said the same thing yesterday or the day before. I'm as excited now as I was when I brought my first radio home. My wife is having the lighter in her car fixed so we can hook her up. I'm really happy with these changes.

 

[styckx]

Well as you all know I don't have much faith in Sirius, but I have to give them kudos for pulling this merger off and doing a fairly decent job on the channel merges. I think there are some things here and there we would have all done a bit differently. Unfortunately in changes such as this you simply can't satisify everyone or in the case of XMFan anyone. (sorry I had to get that in there) LOL

I don't know I sort of have a renewed feeling for Sat Radio since these changes have happened. Lets just hope that feeling moves into the market place and we start getting a lot of new subs, Sirius starts making a profit and we will no longer have to worry will this service continue or not.

Mel needs to work on getting sat radio an image NOW cause it currently has NONE

Go into any Best Buy, or Circuit City. Does the Satellite radio section really stand out? Not anymore, it blends right in with all the other shit now.

The problem is as a consumer it's confusing. "Ok, they merged, but there are still two different brands, but one guy actually owns both, but I still have to go to two completely different websites to get info about each company. So uh, what am I buying now?"

There is NOTHING out there advertising or pushing satellite radio except car salesman at this point.

 

[Manco]

Styckx, you are right, pulling this off in a short time takes much effort and some guts too. I'm sure they must know they have the potential to upset the apple cart and see people run for the exits if they screwed it up.

I'm sure now it will be easier to do some marketing of the services to explain how much they are alike, and then maybe it comes down to mostly a hardware choice.

 

[down4six]

Praise for the Dog Star

I got to listen to the new channels this morning while driving, and I was impressed. the two main channels were Bluegrass and Wolfman Jack on the 60's, and each for 30-45 minutes. I liked what I heard on both. So far I am happy with the changes being made and what is being made in the very near future (the new ch. 108)m, including the additional channels online (now we just need an interface like XM's). There's seems to be a lot of belly-achin' over losing channels, sound quality, etc.; but I would just like to say that I am still happy with the service Sirius XM is providing. Viva La Satellite Radio!

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

I don't understand why they didn't make the channel numbers the same, they could have easily left numbers for exclusive channels.

I think they are just trying to minimize shock factor. Its one thing to turn on your radio and have your favourite channel different. Its another to find it in a different location. I think one or other of those changes can be handled. Both simulateously would be a bit much. Personally I would have done the band-aid apporach one big rip and done but I believe this states what they are thinking.

What I can't explain is why the didn't take the opportunities they had to make the channels simular.

• Escape moved from XM78 to XM28 but is assinged to S76 ... why not 76 on both?
• Why did they put O&A XM202 on S197 when S202 could have been used?
• The talk channels are only off by 1 or 2 for a lot of them. They did some moving on the XM side to syncronize why didn't they do all of them?

 

[down4six]

True Story

Walked into the boss' office this afternoon, a XM subscriber who has the internet player on all day. I noticed he was tuned to classic rewind, and said he was enjoying listening to the station. So I guess not all XM subscribers are unhappy with the merge.

 

[TacoKid]

Mel needs to work on getting sat radio an image NOW cause it currently has NONE

Go into any Best Buy, or Circuit City. Does the Satellite radio section really stand out? Not anymore, it blends right in with all the other shit now.

The problem is as a consumer it's confusing. "Ok, they merged, but there are still two different brands, but one guy actually owns both, but I still have to go to two completely different websites to get info about each company. So uh, what am I buying now?"

There is NOTHING out there advertising or pushing satellite radio except car salesman at this point.

Very good point. The stock of accessories is horrible as well.

I've been looking for a Universal PNP Home Kit for my Starmate 4 and really, the stock for anything satrad is almost non-existent.